Letters, Week of May 29, 2014

After careful review of Gerard Flynn’s May 22nd article in The Villager, I would like to clarify a couple points.

First, since I am legally blind, I certainly did not see the person who was attacked coughing up blood. I was told that by my friend.

The woman who was standing in front of the building as I approached with my two companions was shouting she wanted entrance to the building because her 6-year-old son witnessed the attack. We let her and her son into the building vestibule so she could wait for the police.

She related to us that she had already called 911 and she needed entrance to the building because she did not want anything bad to happen to her son if the attacker came back.

According to my friend, the police arrived within two minutes of us walking up to the building. According to my companion, the ambulance arrived four minutes after that.

As far as the other tenants responding to the woman’s plea — I cannot answer that, as I do not know. But, like others in the community, I feel we as adults should look after each other and our children, as well.

Furthermore, many of us feel adamantly that E. Sixth St. needs more police presence.Steve CannonCannon is director, A Gathering of the Tribes, Inc.

Editor’s note: Gerard Flynn says he tape-recorded the whole conversation he had with Steve Cannon, and that the article noted Cannon is blind. He stands by the article.

What would Francis do?

To The Editor:Re “Idea to improve Mulberry, create Jersey St. plaza” (news article, May 22):

This article raises questions about the apparent priorities of my local parish. The monsignor had an extensive history in affordable housing, so I find recent trends surprising.

A high-end liquor license garnered support and, in the process, the Russian Catholic Church across the street was denied the status of “church” by our church leadership (which would have ensured no liquor license).

Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s beloved school was sold off for luxury condos, while my church sat silent on the issue of the prospect of affordable housing nearby. As an aside: Restoring “the old feel” of the neighborhood might have gone better if the school had been kept intact. We have need of school spaces.

I believe Pope Francis has clearly instructed us to take on the challenging job of fighting for fairness, equity and justice — not streetscaping.

“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” the pope said.

And when Francis mentioned “streets,” I don’t think he was referring to tidying up the already authentic and beautiful Mulberry St.K Webster

This obituary was so well written and encompassed my brother’s career beautifully.

Ms. Woolums displayed a marvelous talent as writer of this piece and I thank her for her attention to detail in explaining Bill’s life as a master of photography.

I shall miss him greatly.George Silano

Cruel carriage-horse industry

To The Editor:Re “Horses not cars” (letter, May 1, by Shirley Secunda):

How Shirley Secunda can call herself an “animal rights activist” and then defend the abuse and enslavement of the New York City carriage horses is truly astounding.

Who is enforcing all these “regulations” she refers to, which are inadequate and mostly ignored?

When it was the ASPCA, for instance, humane officers would suspend the hack line when it reached 90 degrees (humidity not taken into consideration) and order the drivers to take their horses back to the stable. There is no provision in the law on how to lift a suspension; so the drivers would wait until one of their sources claimed it now read 89.9 degrees — and they were back on the hack line. Activists have seen this sort of thing happen many times.

I watched a horse (Flash) collapse from exhaustion in December 2011, as the horses are often overworked and double-shifted during holidays. There is nothing sadder than seeing such a majestic animal lying on the filthy New York City streets, and the other drivers going by with their loads of passengers, not even stopping to help, because their fares are more important than a fallen horse.

Just recently, a driver was caught altering a hoof brand to make a 22-year-old horse with a breathing ailment appear to be a healthier 12-year-old horse. And this older horse, Caesar (since “sold”), was also being illegally worked during the time he was supposed to be on the mandated five-week “vacation.”

There is nothing right or honorable about this industry. It doesn’t need to be replaced with anything. It needs to be banned, now.Teresa D’Amico

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2 Responses to Letters, Week of May 29, 2014

It would be far better were Ms. D'Amico more concerned about bike messengers who must risk their lives in busy traffic to earn a living or underpaid DOT traffic employees who stand in the center of dangerous intersections all day directing traffic, than worrying about well-cared for horses, who get two-weeks vacation a year, more than many NYC people do.

The horses are not any different than horses who are owned by the Amish who are used to transport these people on country roads and streets upstate New York. I would rather see a live horse on CentralParkSouth than in a can of dog food on a shelf in a Pet food store.